Text messages
saying 'pay up or get locked up' could soon be used in England and Wales
to get offenders to settle unpaid court fines.
The scheme could be introduced nationally following a successful pilot project
in Staffordshire.

Some 150 texts were sent, with three quarters of recipients
then paying up.

Texts, emails and phonecalls are likely to be used
more as part of a new national service to help the government in its bid
to increase payment levels.

BBC home affairs correspondent Rory Maclean said two
years ago just over 50% of court-imposed fines were being paid, a figure
which had since increased to around 82%.

Figures for last November showed £390m of fines
remained unpaid in England and Wales.

A new National Enforcement Service (NES) - announced
earlier this year - will be piloted for a year from April in north-west
England, before being extended to other parts of the UK.

Some 4,000 NES enforcement officers will be given new
powers to search and arrest the "hardcore" of people who refuse
to pay court fines.

The service will also crack down on those who skip
bail and fail to turn up at court, said the Department for Constitutional
Affairs (DCA).

In January the DCA announced plans to dock pay and
benefits, or clamp the cars, of those who refused to pay court fines.

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